Lost unsaved work problem

Hi every one,

I have lost 2 days work of drawing on autocad 2011. I had not saved some of my work, and today i faced a problem with my layers as they appeared very thick suddenly. I restarted the program without thinking of saving the previous drawings as i had it on for two days. Now all drawings are lost unfortunately.

Can you please advise me with any restoring technique maybe.

Thanks

Alan

ouch - you didn't save for 2 days?

i think this is a new record!

autocad should have made some .BAK files. do you see them?

(change extension to.dwg to use it)

No Stuart, how can i do that please explain me because i have to hand in my work tomorrow

The .bak file is created when you save. If you didn't save, for two days, there will be no .bak file.

This should be a very valuable lesson for you. Now I suggest you get started re-drawing and remember to save, save, save.

The .bak file is created when you save. If you didn't save, for two days, there will be no .bak file

bummer dude. yes Cad64 i confused .bak for autosave - but i thought in options there was an automatic save which as default was set to 20mins?

this might help explain

http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?7626-AUTOCAD-AUTOSAVE-DRAWING-TYPE

autosave files only remain if the computer crashes. If you do a normal exit, which "I restarted" implies, there won't be any autosave files either.

No Stuart, how can i do that please explain me because i have to hand in my work tomorrow

If there is a .bak file, it will be in the same folder you were keeping your drawing.dwg. They don't get deleted. It gets overwritten the next time the original is saved.

But, there's the catch. The .bak file is only as good as your last save. I don't know what you mean by restart the program. Didn't AutoCAD ask you if you wanted to save the changes before it let you close the program?

It definitely sucks to be this guy. Did not save for two days! Yikes! He may well qualify for the award given to the least careful user of an AutoDesk product this year.

There. Is everyone happy now?

Remark,

Now i have made the mistake and explained that it was due to that my lines got very thick on the modelling. As i am not an expert in auto-cad and all i did was closed the program and started again to get my things back. But yesterday's drawings are not there.

you don't need to be rude and call me for the least competent user, rather maybe advise me to solve the problem as i am just a beginner.

Regards

ALan

I have the bak. file in my folder but how can i open it or at least use it???

so did you have saved files that were there before, for sure, and now have gone? because that doesn't sound like an AutoCAD issue.

I have the bak. file in my folder but how can i open it or at least use it???

I have the bak. file in my folder but how can i open it or at least use it???

Rename it and change .bak to .dwg and you can open it.

Don't just change the file extension, change the filename as well so you can easily distinguish which files are which.

You may also just describe your problem, there may not be anything wrong with you current drawing that can't be "fixed" with a setting or Audit.

What version of Windows are you using?

The automatic save files may still there, and may be recoverable with one of the many free "undelete" programs, or the files may even be recoverable with Windows itself depending on how it's configured.

It doesn't matter what program you were using. You never edit any document or drawing over a two day period and not save it.

If you weren't careless then you were woefully forgetful at best.

There. Is everybody happy now?

It doesn't matter what program you were using. You never edit any document or drawing over a two day period and not save it.

 

If you weren't incompetent then you were negligent at best.

If you have nothing constructive to say, don't say anything at all. I think the point that he did a mistake has come across now.

It's inconceivable that anyone these days would use a program and not save their work. I stand by my statements.

i had them there, but not anymore. i believe that some of the unsaved drawings are lost as i might didnt save them before.

For future reference. Drawing Crash Recovery. It covers the difference between an AutoSave file and a BAK file.

http://www.cadmasters.com/techsupp/Acad/DWGRECOVER.html

Courtesy of dotsoft.

AutoCAD Temp & Backup Files

In AutoCAD, other than the DWG file, there are other files you are working with, whether you know it or not.

1. BAK files: Unless you turn it off in OPTIONS, when you save a drawing that already exists on file, the .DWG is renamed to .BAK, then the new data is written to .DWG. Don't rely on this for true safety of your files, because .BAK files have been known to become corrupt.
   
2. AC$ Files: These are temporary files created by AutoCAD during the process of creating the drawing. They are only of value to AutoCAD during editing and are usually cleaned up when AutoCAD closes. These files are useless if AutoCAD crashes.
   
3. SV$ Files: These are autosave files, controlled by the setting inthe OPTIONS dialog. These files are the equivalent of a DWG, you would only need to rename them if AutoCAD crashes. It's important to note that if AutoCAD closes normally, these files are deleted!